My sculptured shena
I completed making my first shena about 2 months ago. Since then, I have used it to explore the bewildering number of exercises possible with this piece of equipment. My favorite exercise is a bog standard wide grip push up. So I decided to make another shena, with a shape optimized for wide grip push ups. The handles would be canted back by a few degrees, and slope slightly downwards. This allows the hands to adopt a natural position on the shena, and minimizes stress on the wrist. Motorcycle and bicycle manufacturers recognize this, so they make handle bars with handles that are canted back.
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I started off by drawing a profile onto white paper. I cut out the profile, and glued it onto a piece of Rhodesian teak left over after making my sturdy shena. The piece of teak weighs 3.8 kg.
I have always admired the architecture of Eero Saarinen, especially the TWA Flight Centre at JFK International. Some inspiration for the shena design undoubtedly came from him!
After cutting the profile with hack saw and chisel. Weight is now 2.5 kg
After cutting the deck. Weight is now 1.7 kg
After shaping with a rasp.
After filing and sanding, ready for a coat of varnish
Another example of Saarinen's architecture
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Below are some more images of my completed shena. Final weight came in at 1.22 kg
Note 1: The handles are quite fat. This allows the fingers to wrap around and grip the bottom surface. On my first shena, the handle was thinner, and the wrists rested on top with the fingers floating free.
Note 2: The central section is concave instead of flat. I made it that way because it looks nice, but an unintended benefit is that the cutout accommodates the chest on the descent.